Tag: Brookings tuna fishing

Albacore tuna, Pacific halibut, lingcod action heats up

BROOKINGS, Ore. (Aug. 6, 2023) – Two weeks of mostly nice ocean conditions resulted in some of the best fishing of the entire year to end July and begin August, as the Brookings Fishing Charters fleet enjoyed excellent catches of lingcod and rockfish at the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse. The first albacore tuna of the season also were caught last week, and offshore halibut action heated up.

Some of the albacore tuna caught last week aboard the Kraken out of Brookings.

Mid-summer is a premier time to fish out of Brookings, as good weather often results in good fishing. Limits of big rockfish and limits or near limits of lingcod have been common at the lighthouse. A few lingcod close to 30 pounds were caught in recent weeks, while plenty of 10- to 15-pounders and several over 20 pounds were brought in by Brookings Fishing Charters customers. Fishing at the lighthouse will continue through mid-October.

Capt. Andy holds an albacore tuna caught aboard the Nauti-Lady last week.
Some of the nice tuna caught aboard the Miss Brooke last week.

With calm ocean conditions, Brookings Fishing Charters sent its entire fleet out for albacore tuna last week. The office quickly put trips together based on the tuna call list (call 541-813-1082 to get on it), and nearly 30 customers were able to get out on the Miss Brooke, Kraken, Nauti-Lady, Papa B and Dash. It took a few hours to find the fish, then the action was wide open, with a 50-fish-per-boat average. Trolling tuna clones with rod and reel produced the best action, as the captains found 62-degree water offshore of Pistol River. The action was non-stop until the boats ran out of ice and cooler space for the tuna.

A few tuna from the Nauti-Lady last week.
Happy customers with their tuna catch from the Papa B last week.

More tuna trips are expected this week of weather conditions calm down as expected Wednesday and Thursday. Tuna charters are a 10- to 12-hour trip.

Limits of halibut caught in early August aboard the Dash.

Halibut action also improved again last week after a lull in mid-July. The Dash ran a trip over the weekend with full two-fish-per-person limits of Pacific halibut, with fish to 50 pounds caught. Calm weather this week is allow charters to get back offshore for halibut.

Oregon is now the only option for halibut fishing, as the Pacific halibut quota has been reached in California waters. Halibut season runs through October out of Brookings.

Trophy-size vermillion rockfish caught last week aboard the Miss Brooke.
A 29-pound lingcod caught aboard the Nauti-Lady at Mack Arch.
Limits of lingcod caught at the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse.

On local half-day bottom fishing charters, limits of rockfish are being caught, with fair action on lingcod. A 29-pound lingcod was caught last week aboard the Nauti-Lady at Mack Arch.

Fishing charters may be booked online at www.brookingsfishing.com, or by calling (541) 813-1082.

Here are a few more catch photos from the end of July and beginning of August.

Tuna arrive off of Brookings

(BROOKINGS, Ore. – Aug. 15, 2022) – Albacore tuna moved within 40 miles of the coast of Brookings in late July and early August, giving charter boats an opportunity to make the long run offshore and target the prized gamefish. The Brookings Fishing Charters fleet ran several tuna charters in early August, returning with coolers full of albacore.

In late July, the Miss Brooke with Capt. Michael was the first boat to successfully find tuna out of Brookings. Fishing was slow however, with just a single tuna, caught 45 miles from the harbor. It was the first confirmed tuna brought back to the dock.

In early August, the water temperature warmed above 60 degrees offshore, and bigger numbers of tuna moved in. The Miss Brooke, Kraken and Dash returned to the tuna grounds, and ran successful charters, with upwards of 40 tuna caught on some of the trips.

Capt. Michael holds the first albacore tuna of the season caught out of Brookings. It was reeled in by Dave Kuen aboard the Miss Brooke in late July.

Charter boats out of Brookings wait for calm ocean conditions with no wind to make the 30- to 50-mile run to the tuna grounds. They look for water temperatures between 59 and 62 degrees. The tuna are caught by trolling feather jigs or PLine Tuna Rippers at a high speed, sometimes in excess of 8 mph.

Anglers hold some of the tuna they caught in August aboard the Kraken with Capt. Sam.
Some of the tuna caught aboard the Dash with Capt. Mick in early August.
A nice haul of tuna aboard the Miss Brooke with Capt. Michael.

Brookings Fishing Charters maintains a call list for its tuna trips. When weather conditions line up, and water temperatures reach 60 degrees offshore, trips are put together at short notice. The window to target tuna out of Brookings is usually fairly small.

Board a six-pack charter under the light of the moon for a 4 a.m. departure is a special experience.
An amazing sunrise while headed to the tuna grounds out of Brookings.
Deckhand Eric with a pair of nice albacore tuna.
Capt. Mick holds an albacore tuna caught aboard the Dash.
Frequent Brookings Fishing Charters customer Mike C. with a tuna from the Miss Brooke.
More tuna from the Miss Brooke in early August 2022.
The real work begins once the boats return to the dock.

To book a tuna trip, or get on our call list, call (541) 813-1082. For more information on tuna charters, visit Albacore Tuna Fishing Charters | Brookings Fishing

Big lings, tuna, halibut biting

September is off to a great start for the Brookings Fishing Charters crew, with a nice variety of fish being caught aboard our six-pack boats. Big lingcod have moved in, giving anglers a chance at a trophy ling, while the Pacific halibut bite remains good, and there have been some opportunities to chase albacore tuna. Salmon also have arrived in the Chetco River estuary, while our half-day bottom fishing trips are producing limits of nice rockfish.

Limits of Pacific halibut caught aboard the Miss Brooke in September 2020 off the coast of Brookings.

The biggest surprise of the season has been the great fishing for Pacific halibut off of Brookings. We have been getting limits on most charters of these prized fish. There are still plenty of fish remaining on the quota for the area south of Humbug Mountain, meaning the season could last through Oct. 31. Anglers may keep one Pacific halibut a day. They run 10 to 30 pounds, on average, with fish to 100 pounds caught. We have seen two fish in the upper 90-pound range caught by our friends in private boats this month.

Average-size Pacific halibut caught on our charters. These were caught on the Miss Brooke in September 2020.

Our charters are equipped with anchored and our captains are accustomed to fishing on anchor, having run charters in Alaska for several years. This gives us a big advantage when targeting halibut in 200-300 feet of water.

Nice albacore tuna caught with Capt. Rye on The Dash.

The tuna fishing has been fair this season, with albacore 20 to 50 miles off the coast of Brookings. Capt. Rye ran several trips for tuna aboard The Dash earlier this month, slamming the fish some days and scratching out just a few fish on others. We may have another window to target albacore in late September or early October before the weather turns and they head offshore and south.

Capt, Rye with some hefty albacore.

The grade of the tuna has been excellent, with albacore to 30 pounds. We are seeing a bigger overall size this season compared to the “peanuts” last year.

Capt. Michael holds a trophy 30-plus-pound lingcod caught aboard the Miss Brooke in mid-September 2020.

September and October are prime time for finding trophy lingcod off of Brookings. We’ve gotten customers into several fish over 20 pounds this month, and a few in the 30-pound range. We target these bigger lings with large jigs or bait. They also will hit the light tackle we use for rockfish. The big lings move into shallow water this time of year ahead of spawning. The lingcod population is healthy, and ODFW has assured us targeting some of these bigger fish won’t hurt the fishery.

Nice lingcod caught aboard the Miss Brooke with Capt. Travis in mid-September 2020.

We are running trips to Mack Arch and the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse, and both are producing big numbers of lingcod and limits of rockfish. Lots of quality lingcod are being caught during these long-range trips.

Limits of rockfish caught aboard The Dash.

Our popular 4-5 hour bottom fishing trip is yielding limits of rockfish, with an assortment of blacks, blues and canaries. Some lingcod also are being caught during the short trip. We also are getting into Dungeness crab, a nice end-of-the-day bonus.

Capt. Michael shows a pot full of crab.

The fall salmon season is underway. We have been fishing the Coos River, with fair results. The kings are nice, but the catch rates are lower than normal. The bright spot is the early action on the Chetco River estuary. We are already seeing a lot of jacks and some nice adults. A 35-pounder was caught over the weekend. Fishing in the Chetco estuary will improve in the next few weeks, with the bigger Chetco hawgs. Capt. Andy got a customer into a 58-pounder in 2008 in the Chetco estuary and has guided anglers to several fish over 50 pounds there.

A nice Coos River king from earlier in the week.

To learn more about our ocean charters, visit www.brookingsfishing.com. Information about river trips can be found at www.wildriversfishing.com.